Bobby pin opener



Dec. 26, 1950 D. a. STEPHENSON 2,535,170

BOBBY PIN OPENER Filed Ju1y'29, 1948 JNVEN TOR. 002/; G. STEPHE/Yso/Y.

' ATTORNEY.

Patented" Dec. 26, 1950 OFFICE I BOBBY PIN OPENER Doris G. Stephenson, Denver, (3010. Application July 29, 1948, Serial No. 41,216

1 Claim.

in broken finger nails, sore fingers, damaged teeth, etc.

Devices have been designed for opening bobby pins, and in practically all cases these devices consist of wedge arrangements which must be fitted between the two legs of the pin to force them apart. The time required to engage the sharp edge of the wedge between the legs of the pin offsets the advantage of these devices.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a bobby pin opener with which it will not be necessary to locate and engage a sharp wedge edge; to provide an opener with which the pin itself will automatically engage without any skill or attention on the part of the operator so that it can be operated without even looking at the device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bobby pin holder which will be adaptable to be worn as a finger ring or as a table or wallmounted article.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a, part hereof. merals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a face view of the improved bobby pin opener, arranged to be secured to a wall or other vertical supporting surface;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the opener of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, illustrating the opener mounted horizontally on a block for table use;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view, illustrating the opener mounted on afinger ring; and

Fig. 5 illustrates the method of using the opener as a finger ring.

Basically, the improved opener comprises a bent plate of sheet metal or similar rigid material. The plate is bent and formed so as to provide an inclined surface in which a relatively narrow, pin-engaging slot is formed. In use, it is only necessary to slide one leg of the pin along economy, and efficiency.

Like nuthe inclined surface. The latter leg will automatically enter the slot, allowing the other le to travel over the bent plate to separate the two legs. No attenion need be given to the placing of the pin on or in the device or locating the slot therein. The movement of the pin along the inclined surface automatically locates the slot and opens the pin.

One form of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 1 mounted on a wall ill or other supporting surface. This form comprises an elongated metal plate secured to the surface ill by means of suitable attachment screws I l, or in any other desired manner.

The plate is bent to form an attachment ledge portion l2, a, flat, inclined surface l3, and a semicylindrical, rolled surface It. The upper edge of the plate, after leaving the rolled surface l4, may rest against the wall [0, as indicated at 15, for additional support.

An elongated, relatively narrow, open slot I6 is formed in the inclined surface 13 approximately midway between the attachment ledge l2 and the rolled surface l4 and parallel to the latter.

To open a bobby pin, such as indicated in broken line at H, it is simply forced upwardly along the inclined surface 13. When the slot [6 is reached, the inner leg of the pin will enter the slot and the outer leg will ride over the rolled surface M, as shown in Fig. 2.

The plate is relatively wide, and the slot [6 is relatively long so that both can be quickly and easily located without paying particular attention to the position of the pin thereon.

In Fig. 3 the opener of Figs. 1 and 2 has been mounted upon a portable supporting block [8 which can be placed upon a dresser or work table for convenient use. The device of Fig. 3 is used similarly to that of Figs. 1 and 2, except that the movement of the pin, indicated at I9, toward the opener is made in a substantially horizontal plane, whereas the direction of approach in Figs. 1 and 2 is in a substantially vertical plane,

A method Of mounting the improved bobby pin opener upon the users finger is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. This form is stamped from a single, unitary piece of sheet metal to form a finger pad portion 20 and a finger ring portion 2 I. The pad portion 20 is rolled backwardly upon itself to form a laterally extending bend 22, from whence an inclined plate 23, corresponding to the surface l3 of Figs. 1 and 2, extends at an acute angle to the pad portion. The extremity of the inclined surface is rolled inwardly, as shown at 24, to provide a rolled surface similar to the surface ll of 3 Fig. 1. A relatively narrow, elongated slot 25 extends across the surface 23 similarly to the slot N5 of Fig. 1.

In use, the ring portion 2| is slipped on the finger of one of the hands, as shown in Fig. 5. A bobby pin, such as indicated at 26, is forced against the inclined surface 23 until one of its legs enters the slot 25. The other leg will then ride over the rounded surface 24 similarly to the previously described form.

If the hand supporting the pin 26 be rotated upwardly, the upper leg of the pin will ride around the rounded surface 24 to provide any desired separation of the legs. The separated legs can then be gripped between the thumb and forefinger and easily inserted into the hair'of the patron.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within 20 the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

A bobby pin opener comprising: a relatively 25 thin plate; a mounting pad joined to and extend- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,239,485 Heywood Sept. 11, 1917 1,646,100 Ordway Oct. 18, 1927 2,150,144 Andersen Mar. 14, 1939 2,230,394 Young Feb. 4, 1941 2,480,581 Hopkins Aug. 30, 1949 2,484,313 Rennecamp et al. Oct. 11, 1949 

